NEEDS ASSESMENT REPORT

An interview with teachers in Pangdan National High School

Rationale:

Objectives:
The following were sought in the conduct of needs assessment in Pangdan
National High School, Bgy. Pangdan, Catbalogan City:

General Objectives:
1. To gather baseline data through firsthand interview and assessment with and
among students, teachers, school leaders, and parents of Pangdan National
High School, specifically, and Bgy. Pangdan, in general, for future instructional
policy directions; and
2. To forge community and school-to-school linkage and partnership between and
among Bgy. Pangdan, Pangdan National High School and Samar State
University as much as holistic development of the students is concerned.

Specific Objectives:
1. To conduct assessment on the causes, effects, and extent of implementation
of reading diagnosis and intervention among non-readers in Pangdan National
High School as perceived by teachers and reading coordinators; and
2. To correlate results gathered by the researchers to other data accumulated by
other researchers to develop and produce suitable, needs-based learning
materials for non-readers in Pangdan National High School.

Data Gathering Procedures:

The data were gathered through actual and personal interview with participants
selected through purposive sampling. Purposive sampling, also known as judgmental,
selective, or subjective sampling, is a form of non-probability sampling in which
researchers rely on their own judgment when choosing members of the population to
participate in the study (Foley, 2018). The researchers considered 3 criteria in selecting
the participants. First, the background knowledge of the teachers. Second, their exposure
to reading intervention, while the third one is their residency in Bgy. Pangdan. There were
4 teacher-participants during the needs assessment procedures- all have been in service
for at least 2 years and are residing in Bgy. Pangdan in either temporary or permanent
status; 3 of whom have become reading coordinators while 1 had an experience handling
non-readers in his subject area. Below are illustrations in tabular form of the data gathered
in the interview with the participants.

Table 1
Prevalence of Non-readers in Pangdan National High School as of SY 2019-2020

Grade Level No. of Cases

7 4
8 6
9 4
10 0
Total: 14

Table 2
 Background of Teachers in Pangdan National High School

Knowledge and
Teacher Length of Subject/s Residence Exposure to
Service in Taught and Temporary/Permanent Learning Material
Years Grade Level Development
1 3 Filipino- SHS Temporary Yes
TLE- JHS
2 8 Araling Permanent Yes
Panlipunan-
JHS
3 2 English-JHS Permanent Yes
4 2 English-JHS Permanent Yes

Table 3
Factors Contributing to the Emergence of Non-readers as Perceived by the
Teachers in Pangdan National High School

Presumed Factors Teachers’ Answers

1. Educational • The motivation and eagerness of
the non-readers to learn is too low
because of too much anxiety and
very low self-esteem. Oftentimes,
they get bullied in the class for not
being able to catch up with the
discussions. That is they opt not to
attend their classes and rather go
mining with some other students.
• In addition, even if there are already
teachers working as reading
teachers to these non-readers,
success is still not met because
only very few instructional materials
are available in the reading center
plus the fact that these materials
were deemed by the teachers as
unresponsive and
unaccommodating of students
varying learning preferences and
needs as those are just adopted
from generic sources in the
internet.
• In addition, mass promotion is also
seen as a factor by the teachers.
For them, when the learner is
unable to possess the necessary
skills appropriate to his grade level
which is required of him by DepEd,
he is supposed to go back until he
masters those skills. This should
start from elementary because
once the student reaches high
school and they are still
incompetent in many ways that will
give so much of a problem to the
teachers.

2. Socio-economic
3. Parental Involvement
Table 4
Problems Encountered by the Teachers in Pangdan National High School
• Lastly, the schedules of the reading
teachers and the non-readers do
not meet. Nobody from either side
would like to give way for the other
especially that most of the non-
readers are working already at a
very young age. In other words,
every single hour is important to
these young people.
• According to them, this is the root
cause why there are non-readers
in PNHS. Parents of the non-
readers themselves are the ones
who encourage their children to
give up some days/sessions in
school to help them earn a decent
life. Truly, child labor exists in
Brgy. Pangdan, which in turn,
impedes and hampers the
development of young learners.
While this should not really happen
among developing children, they
are left with no choice but to do it,
otherwise they will have nothing to
put inside their stomach especially
that most of them rely only on one
big source of income which is
mining. Thus, students are torn
between attending their studies
and attending their family priorities;
sadly, they choose the latter.
• Parental involvement in reading
practice at home, according to the
teachers, poses from very little to
none, as both the mother and the
father are busy working for the
family. That leaves their children
still unable to read even if they
have already spent some years in
elementary and high school. While
some do serve as personal tutors
to their children, most of them give
the responsibility for their children
to read to teachers because they
themselves lack the competence
to do so.
Teachers’ Answers
1. Very low motivation of the students
2. Inadequacy and inappropriateness
of reading materials
3. Continued practice of mass
promotion
 PROBLEMS 4. Severe case of absenteeism and
tardiness among the students
5. Students coming to school hungry
6. Bullying and discrimination of
readers to non-readers, leading to
the latter’s very low self-esteem.
7. Child labor weakening the learning
foundations of the learners.
8. Inadequate trainings for the
teachers relating to instructional
material preparation and
management of mainstream
education.
9. Parents being less cooperative in
teaching their children how to read.
10. Dominance of non to slow readers
over proficient readers in the
classroom

Table 5
Suggested Solutions of the Teachers in Pangdan National High School

Teachers’ Answers
1. Have the non-readers managed by
the reading coordinators while the
slow readers by the subject
teachers.
2. In any subject, even if reading is
SOLUTIONS not a required skill, give the
students opportunities to read
words or paragraphs so that they
will be able to practice reading.
3. Reinforce the law on child labor.
4. Purchase or procure more reading
materials for the learners.
5. Make partnerships with any
institution for possible funding or
negotiation.

Recommendations

1. Provide separate and grade-level appropriate learning materials both print and
electronic to non-readers and slow readers to develop and further enhance their
reading skills.
2. Actively involve the parents by clearly defining their roles and responsibilities in the
organized reading program. Moreover, the school may conduct intensive seminars
and trainings in reading for parents to better serve their responsibilities at home.
3. Communicate the results to delegated authorities especially on child labor and
mass promotion.
4. Organize seminars and trainings for teachers of Pangdan National High School
particularly on instructional material development and classroom management.

Prepared by:
Paolo N. Menozo